Case Closed Shorts 2: The Otaru Canal Murder Case
by AkuRoku18
Summary: Conan, Ran, and Kogorou go to Otaru, Hokkaido to investigate a killer that drowned his victims. Can Conan find the killer? One shot. Yeah. GO 18TH STORY! :D Read and Review! If you don't like it, then... okay. That's cool.


**Hey! I finally got this one done~ :D I hope you enjoy this next little case! :D**

* * *

**Case Closed Short 2: The Otaru Canal Murder Case**

It was a cold December morning, and Conan, Ran, and her father, Kogorou, were on a train to Otaru, Hokkaido. They'd just passed the city of Nishi. Conan sat back in his seat, kicking his legs. "Ojisan, are we there yet?" the short detective asked.

"No, stop asking," Kogorou answered lazily. He leaned his chair back and crossed his arms.

"Be patient, Conan-kun! I'm sure we're going to be there soon," Ran said. She was reading a newspaper.

"Hey… this is my case! Why are you even coming with me?!" Kogorou grumbled. "I was invited by the inspector in Otaru, Wei Kwan, to investigate suspicious murders. I don't see why I had to bring you kids along…"

"I wanna see the Otaru Canal!" Conan suddenly burst out. He leapt out of his seat and ran down the aisle. _God, if I have to hear him whine about this again…_ Conan thought begrudgingly. _Anyway… about the case. I read the files Kwan-san sent us; apparently some psychopath has been killing teens and young adults by drowning them in the canal. The police have no witnesses or, more importantly, suspects. There appears to be no motive since this looks like a bunch of random killings… but I don't think that's the case…_

Conan was pulled out of his thoughts when Ran picked him up. "Conan! Can't you sit still for one minute?" she asked sternly.

"Eh heh heh… I just got excited, that's all~" Conan lied. _I really hate lying…_ "We're gonna be there soon, right?"

"Of course! Otaru is the next stop. So, I think we'll be there in… ten or twenty minutes?" Ran guessed. "In the mean time, go sit down! You're disturbing the other passengers."

* * *

The group finally arrived in Otaru. The station was bustling with people heading home, but there was one man that stood out in the crowd. He was very tall with a black suit. His hair matched his suit, and his eyes were dark brown. His name was Shi Zhang and he was part of Kwan's police force. He spotted Kogorou in the crowd and called, "Shīfù Mouri!" His booming voice scared the people in front of him.

"A-ah… Zhang-san, right?" Kogorou asked. "Detective Mouri, at your service." He extended his hand.

"Shi Zhang, at yours, shīfù," Shi said. He smiled and shook Kogorou's hand. The Japanese detective cringed; Zhang's grip was deathly. "And who are these two, shīfù?"

"Ah, yes. My daughter, Ran, and… this brat."

"Hey!" Conan glared at Kogorou. "I do have a name, ojisan." _Jerk_. The little detective looked up at Zhang and said, "My name's Conan Edogawa!"

"It is good to meet you, xiăo yī." Zhang smiled at Conan. His expression changed from happy to serious when he addressed Kogorou. "Shīfù Mouri. Lǎoshī Kwan awaits your arrival. Please follow me." The tall Chinese man turned on his heels and walked towards the exit. Kogorou, Ran, and Conan followed him outside. Snow was lightly falling onto a black car. Zhang opened the back door for his guests and bowed slightly. "After you, shīfù," he said.

"Thanks, Zhang-san." Kogorou got in the back first, then Conan, and finally Ran. Zhang himself got into the front seat and said something in Chinese to the driver. The driver nodded and pulled out of the station's parking lot.

The ride was silent, until Conan asked, "Can I ask why the Chinese police are getting involved here?"

"Conan!" Ran hissed. But Zhang laughed.

"It's alright, nǚshì. It's only natural for a boy his age to be so curious." Zhang turned around in his seat and said, "The Chinese police are here in Hokkaido because some of the victims killed were Chinese. The police force in Hokkaido called lǎoshī Kwan to help with the investigation."

"Oh." _Well, that makes sense. If Japanese were killed in China, I'm sure they'd want us to come there,_ Conan thought. He stayed silent until they got to the most recent crime scene. Policemen in blue suits surrounded a white sheet. Conan assumed the body was under the sheet. There were several men in black, both Japanese and Chinese. Zhang called out to his boss in Chinese.

A shorter man with black hair and a small frame walked up to Zhang and said, "Hello, Zhang. And hello to you as well, shīfù Mouri. Thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Wei Kwan? It's good to finally meet you in person," Kogorou said, bowing. Kwan raised an eyebrow at Ran and Conan.

"Who are the two with you, shīfù Mouri?" Wei asked curiously.

"My daughter, Ran, and Conan Edogawa. He's living with us until his parents come back from America," Kogorou answered. Ran and Conan bowed to the Chinese inspector.

"Ah. Well, please make sure they don't interfere in our work," Wei said sternly. He said something in Chinese to Shi and beckoned Kogorou to follow him. The Japanese detective followed the Chinese detective to the crime scene, and Ran and Conan stayed behind with Shi.

"What did he say to you?" Ran asked, looking up at Shi.

Shi gazed at the crime scene and sighed. "He says I must take you two elsewhere, nǚshì. He truly doesn't want you to get involved."

"Right… well, let's follow Zhang-san, Con… an? Conan!" Ran called after Conan. He ran after Kwan and looked at the crime scene. A girl, about nineteen, Conan guessed, lay on the sidewalk. Water drenched the woman's clothing and there were purple blue marks on her neck. A picture of the canal lay next to the deceased.

_What's that picture? _Conan felt himself being lifted off the ground and cried, "Waah? What the…?!"

"Conan! What is wrong with you? Kwan-san told you not to get involved!" Ran snapped sternly. "Come back over here, and you will stay next to me and Zhang-san."

"… okay, Ran- nēchan. I will," Conan said dismally. He walked over to Zhang and stood next to Ran. Ran kept a watchful eye on the little detective. But, he ignored her and thought, _So… she was strangled and then thrown into the canal. But, why would the killer throw her in the canal? Why not just bury her or something? It doesn't make sense…_ _and why the hell would he leave a picture of the canal with her body? Arrgh… _Conan pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked over at the scene. _If only I could get over there without anybody noticing… or what if I distracted Ran and Zhang?_ "Uh… Ran-nēchan?"

"Yes, Conan?" Ran said.

"I… I wanna see the rest of the canal!" Conan said loudly, running past the crime scene.

"Wait, Conan!" Ran chased after the boy. Zhang sighed and ran after the two as well.

While he was running, Conan caught a glimpse of the scene. The police had taken out a couple more pictures of the canal. _Other pictures? Those were probably found with the other bodies. How many were there? Oh yeah… there were three other cases of murder. Exact same cause of death. Those pictures look like other parts of the canal. I wonder where each picture was taken?_ Conan didn't have to run very far to get to the end of the canal. He looked over the edge, aware that Ran and Zhang had all eyes on him.

"Conan! Please be careful!" Ran said worriedly. "I don't want you to fall over the edge…!"

"I won't, Ran-nēchan!" _I wonder why the killer is going after young adults and teens? Is there some connection between the murders? _"Hey, Zhang-san?" Conan asked the tall Chinese man, running over to him.

"Hmm? Yes, xiăo yī? What can I do for you?" Zhang asked. He leaned down and smiled slightly.

"Can I ask you some questions about the case?"

Zhang furrowed his brows a little and said, "It all depends on the questions, xiăo yī. I can't give away too much information. Lǎoshī Kwan would get mad at me."

"Okay… um… can you tell me some names?" asked Conan, pulling a pad of paper and pen out of his coat pocket.

"I… okay, the names, xiăo yī. I can tell you them, but not much else about them. The first victim was named Ping Liao, age seventeen. Death by asphyxiation and dumped in the lake. The second; Jian Xun. Age twenty. Death by asphyxiation and dumped in the lake, as well." Conan wrote out the names, ages, and deaths on the paper. "The third; Katashi Maki. Age nineteen. Again, death by asphyxiation and thrown into the lake. And we've confirmed the name of the fourth victim. Rong Chen. Age twenty. And I assume you know the form of death."

"Hmm… so… they are all fairly young. The cases must be related in some way… Zhang-san, do their families have any relations?"

"Well… yes. The Liao, Xun, Maki, and Chen families were in alliance until about thirty years ago. They were part of a mob group called the Otaru Raiders who frequently caused trouble here in Otaru and Mudanjiang, a city in China. Hmm… now that I think on it…" Zhang scratched at his chin in thought. "There was another family. Not quite as prominent as the Chen or Maki families… but they were part of the Otaru Raiders, too."

"Who? Who was part of it?" Conan looked up at Zhang.

"The Bai family. They were more like underlings that did whatever the other families said… so you can imagine they were ridiculed by the higher ups," Zhang said. He narrowed his eyes and murmured, "Perhaps… perhaps the Bai family is taking their revenge. Is that it…? My god… I need to tell lǎoshī Kwan! You kids wait here!" Zhang ran back down the road, shouting in Chinese. Conan grinned.

_Perfect. Now I can solve this case! I have the names of the victims… the back story to the murders… excellent~_ Conan chuckled and flipped the notepad shut. "Ran- nēchan! We should go back with Zhang-san, too! We don't wanna get left behind!" he called, running up to Ran and tugging on her coat sleeve.

"Alright, Conan-kun. Let's go back," she agreed. Ran took Conan by the hand and led him back down the road. "What were you asking Zhang-san, Conan?"

"Euh? Nothing! Just some… stuff about China! We're learning about the history of China in school~" Conan lied. They got back to the crime scene and Kwan ran up to Conan.

"Xiăo yī! Boy!" he called. His ears were red and he looked agitated. "What did my idiot subordinate tell you?! I'll have him fired…!"

"Eh?"

"Girl, leave us," Kwan snapped at Ran. She huffed and walked away to stand next to her father who was having a smoke.

"Boy, you need to tell me exactly what the hell Zhang told you," Kwan hissed, grabbing Conan's coat collar. "This is a crime scene, not a social gathering."

"I just want to help you, Kwan-san! I thought that maybe if I knew some more information, I could figure out this case," Conan said truthfully. But Kwan didn't buy it and tightened his grip on Conan's coat.

"Xiǎozi. What's the real reason you're doing this?" Kwan growled.

"I just wanna help, Kwan-san. Please give me a chance!"

The Chinese inspector snorted and shoved Conan away. "I won't allow it. I'm ordering Zhang to take you and the girl to a restaurant owned by my friend. He'll be sure not to let you escape." Kwan stood and glared at Conan one last time before returning to the crime scene. Conan scoffed at the man and ran up to Zhang and Ran.

"What did lǎoshī want to talk to you about, Conan?" Zhang asked, looking at Conan expectantly.

"He wants you to take us to a restaurant to keep us there. He thinks I'm poking around too much," Conan mumbled. He shoved his hands in his pockets. Ran sighed.

"Let's stay out of it, Conan. Kwan-san obviously doesn't want you involved," she said. She held out her hand for Conan to hold, but he kept his hands in his pockets.

_Dammit. Damn that Kwan. I'm close to exposing the killer…_

* * *

In the restaurant, called Xióngwěi de shīzi, Conan sat at a table by himself, listening in on Kwan's conversations. Before they left, Conan stuck his little microphone in some chewing gum he found on the ground and put it on the bottom of Kogorou's shoe. "Let's see here…" he murmured.

"This is your daughter?" Kwan's voice sounded through the earpiece.

A woman began to sob uncontrollably. "Yes… Rong is our daughter… oh God…"

"It's alright, Zan. If it was her time, then God has decided it was her time," a man said in a deep voice. "Besides, we know the bastards who did this!"

"You do…?"

"It's the damn Bai family! They've hated us for years!" the man snarled.

"Yes! Arrest them!" the woman chimed in.

Kwan sounded flustered and said, "Calm down. We don't have any evidence that they have done anything wrong."

"Ah… hold on, Kwan-san… I've got something on my shoe…" Kogorou grumbled.

_Ah, crap!_ Conan cringed when the microphone made a loud clang as it was tossed in a garbage can. _Dammit. Now I can't hear anything… oh well. At least now I know that the Chen's already suspect the Bai's. They want to arrest them… but I can't imagine that it's the whole family… probably just one man or woman. Now I just have to find them._ He looked at Zhang and Ran who were having a friendly conversation. _Maybe the owner knows something._ Conan ran up to the counter and looked up at the owner.

The owner was a short Chinese man with short gray hair and dark brown eyes. He looked down at Conan and smiled warmly. "What can I help you with, xiăo yī?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you know anything about the Bai family? Apparently they're big in Otaru," Conan said.

"The Bai's? Yeah, I know of them. They were part of the Otaru Raiders way back when. I think there are a couple still living here, they actually don't live far from here; Wen Bai and his wife, Heng Bai. They had a kid, I think… but he died twenty years ago," the owner said. Then he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Eh? No reason! I heard Zhang-san talk about them!" Conan lied. Zhang and Ran looked curiously over from the table they were sitting at. "Eh heh… I need to go to the bathroom!" Conan ran down the hall that had a sign that read 'bathroom.' _Dammit…_ _that was close… I gotta get outta here before they notice I'm even gone~ _Conan went into the bathroom and opened the only window in the room. He climbed out and made sure to only partially shut the window. _Alright… now to find the Bai's! _He ran down the street, looking at all of the house names. He skidded to a stop outside a house, panting. _Ah… this looks like it. 'Bai'… yep! This is the place! But… do I go barging in, guns blazing? Or… do I wait for him to strike again…? I can't do that! _

Suddenly, the front gate opened and a tall, thin man with graying hair walked out. His brows were furrowed and he was muttering something quickly in Chinese. He noticed the short detective outside his gate and he shouted, "What the hell are you doing out here, brat?!"

"Wh-whoa!" Conan's eyes widened and he backed away from the tense Chinese man.

"Who are you?! What are you doing?!" The man advanced towards Conan.

"Uhh… wait… I can explain!"

"Get out of here! Before I have to hurt you, brat!" the man snarled, grabbing at Conan's coat, but the small detective backed away out of his reach.

_S-shit! This guy's serious!_ Conan thought, turning around and running back in the direction of the restaurant. The man took up the pursuit after Conan. He ran faster than Conan, but Conan ducked into an alleyway before the furious Chinese man caught him. _Crap! I find the guy's house, and now he wants to kill me?! Talk about impulsive. _He sprinted in the direction of the restaurant. He was only a few meters away from the entrance, when the man suddenly appeared in front of him. _Holy crap!_

"Found you, you spying brat! Thought you could get away with eavesdropping on me?!" the man growled, wrapping his fingers around Conan's throat. "You know everything… you know that I killed those kids. D'you know why? The parents of those bastards killed my son… so now they know the pain of losing a child!" he shouted.

"… ggkk…" Conan choked. "… s-stop… Bai-san…"

"You'll never know that feeling… the feeling of seeing your son lie dead in the road… you don't know how that feels!" the man cried. Tears filled his eyes as his fingers tightened. "But… whoever your father is will know the feeling…"

… _shit… this bastard… won't let go… need to call… Ran… _"R… Ran… RAN!" Conan managed to shout. He only hoped she would have heard him. The man looked behind him as if somebody was already there. _… watch… needle… _Conan tried to reach his watch to aim at the crazed Chinese man, but his arm was forced to the ground.

"Stop trying to struggle, brat. Just go to sleep, now…!"

_**CRACK!**_

The Chinese man toppled to the ground and his grip loosened on Conan's neck. Ran was standing behind the unconscious man. Conan assumed that she kicked him in the back of the head. The short detective pushed himself up off the ground and coughed violently. _… dammit all. I feel like crap… I gotta thank Ran for saving me… again._ "…R-Ran… thanks…" Conan panted.

"Conan! Are you okay?" Ran rushed to Conan's side and helped him onto his feet. He leaned against Ran's legs and tried to catch his breath.

"I-I'm fine…" Conan coughed. He took a couple steps and collapsed onto his knees. Ran picked him up and carried him back inside the restaurant.

"Zhang-san!" Ran called. She sat Conan down on top of a table.

Zhang stood up abruptly and asked, "What? What is it?" He looked at the panting, coughing Conan and asked, "Is he alright? What happened?"

"Some crazy guy out of nowhere… he was strangling Conan! I knocked him out, but the bastard…!" Ran slammed her fist into a table, breaking it in two. Zhang and Conan jumped slightly.

"Hey, what the hell?!" the owner shouted. He ran out into the dining area and cried out, "My table!"

"S-sorry… I'll pay for it!" Ran bowed and laughed sheepishly.

Zhang walked over to Conan and asked, "Are you alright, xiăo yī? You look terrible."

"I've finally caught my breath… but the coughing… aggh…" Conan coughed. "But… I did finally find the killer~" he chuckled softly. He pointed at the door and said, "The same man that tried to kill me killed Rong and the others. He's… got quite a grip." Zhang ran outside and said something in Chinese. He called Kwan and told him he'd apprehended the criminal. Conan lay back on the table and tried to breathe deeply, but coughed sharply. _God… this hurts… I hope Kwan and Kogorou show up soon… I'd like to… sleep._

* * *

A day later, Conan, Ran, and Kogorou were at the train station with Zhang and Kwan. Bai confessed to all of his crimes and was sent to prison for life. Due to the cold weather, Conan's general poor immune system, and the fact that he was strangled, Conan's cough and raspy breathing persisted. But, he was otherwise fine.

"You caught the criminal, Conan?" Kogorou asked in disbelief. "I don't believe it."

"He did, shīfù Mouri! I… I didn't actually see it happen, but I know that the little detective did!" Zhang said, nodding. Kwan snorted.

"Of course he did. This brat who thinks he's Sherlock Holmes caught a dangerous criminal," Kwan muttered. He took the cigarette he was smoking and tossed it on the ground. He stomped on it and said, "Kogorou Mouri. It has been a pleasure working with you. Even though your brat son tried to act like Shinichi Kudou."

"H-he's not my son, but I apologize for his actions anyway," Kogorou said. The train arrived at the station, so Kogorou shook hands with Kwan and Zhang and got on the train. Ran followed her father and bowed to the two Chinese men, holding Conan's hand tightly.

"Xiăo yī," Zhang said suddenly. Conan looked up at the tall detective and he bowed. "Well done, Conan Edogawa."

"… thanks, Zhang-san~" Conan smiled and bowed back to Zhang. He followed Ran and got on the train. _I may have almost died… but the case was solved, and Wen Bai was arrested. This looks like another case closed!_

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**I have some Chinese for you all to learn! :D  
shīfù: Master  
xiăo yī: small one  
nǚshì: madam  
lǎoshī: teacher  
Xiǎozi: brat  
YEAH~ ALL THE CHINESE SHHH.**


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